VG247 » Dead Island: Riptidehttp://www.vg247.com
VG247.comTue, 31 Mar 2015 20:33:48 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.8.1The new Xbox Live deal of the week is all about zombie games – discounts insidehttp://www.vg247.com/2014/05/13/xbox-live-360-zombie-sale/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/05/13/xbox-live-360-zombie-sale/#commentsTue, 13 May 2014 12:14:55 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=471483Microsoft has posted a zombie game sale as part of its Deal of the Week promotion, knocking pounds off a variety of undead games with a bloody cricket bat. You’ve got red on you, by the way.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/05/13/xbox-live-360-zombie-sale/feed/1Dead Island: Riptide is free to play this weekend, 66% off to buyhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/09/27/dead-island-riptide-is-free-to-play-this-weekend-66-off-to-buy/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/09/27/dead-island-riptide-is-free-to-play-this-weekend-66-off-to-buy/#commentsFri, 27 Sep 2013 15:23:18 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=412463Techland’s Dead Island: Riptide is available to play for free this weekend, and you’ll be able to buy the full game for free at 66% off as part of a Weekend Deal. That’s a lot of cheap zombie murdering action.

Dead Island: Riptide is set on the tropical island of Palanai that has become infested with bloodthirsty zombies. Your job is to improvise your own weapons, kill zombies, and fight alongside other survivors.

The game received mediocre reviews when it came out, suffering as it does from a number of technical issues. That’s something that Techland will be hoping to improve on with their ambitious next-gen zombie project Dying Light, a free-running sandbox of undead mayhem. A free go on Riptide might just get you in the mood.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/09/27/dead-island-riptide-is-free-to-play-this-weekend-66-off-to-buy/feed/2PSN Summer Festival sale adds new games, get the full list herehttp://www.vg247.com/2013/08/14/psn-summer-festival-sale-adds-new-games-get-the-full-list-here/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/08/14/psn-summer-festival-sale-adds-new-games-get-the-full-list-here/#commentsWed, 14 Aug 2013 10:11:43 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=398070Sony has added even more games to its Summer Festival sale over on PSN, including, Dead or Alive 5, Dead Island: Riptide and much more. It’s a big one!

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/08/14/psn-summer-festival-sale-adds-new-games-get-the-full-list-here/feed/6Dead Island: Riptide ad banned in Australiahttp://www.vg247.com/2013/05/30/dead-island-riptide-ad-banned-in-australia/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/05/30/dead-island-riptide-ad-banned-in-australia/#commentsThu, 30 May 2013 02:35:38 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=371718Local distributors for Dead Island: Riptide have replaced a trailer with a suggestion of suicide in response to complaints that it is “too graphic”.

The ad in question features portions of the opening cinematic, showing a couple who appear to trigger a gas canister explosion rather than face dismemberment at the hands of zombies. Interestingly, it’s actually the game’s logo, not this content, which raised ire, with one complaint noting that “the ad is too graphic in terms of its depiction of suicide, particularly the final image of the man hanging from a tree” because it may be “very traumatic” for those who have lost a family member to suicide.

AIE Australia responded to the complaint by arguing that the violence shown – suicide – is justified by context.

“I acknowledge that a degree of violence is portrayed in the advertisement in that a zombie is shown smashing a window in an attempt to enter the boat, more zombies are shown moving towards the boat in an aggressive fashion, and the implied death of the two central characters is violent, notwithstanding that it is less violent than the potential alternative,” a representative wrote.

“However, the limited depiction of violence in the advertisement is reflective of the theme of the game advertised, and contextually relevant. All violent themes are presented in the readily identifiable fantasy context of a zombie attack in an animated video game scene.

“The cinematic implication of violence in the advertisement is intended to convey the desolate terror afflicting the game characters, and I believe is contextually relevant to the product being advertised, as it conveys the hopelessness of the games’ characters as they are faced with the overwhelming horror and violence of vast numbers of zombies hunting them, without actually depicting the violence of zombie vs character interaction in the game.”

Regarding the logo, and the implied suicide of the trailer’s protagonists, AIE said it understands that the hanging zombie silhouette may be affecting for someone who has lost a loved one to suicide, and expressed sympathy, but said it “does not represent violence out of context, or otherwise offend prevailing community standards”.

“The scene does not imply that suicide is a viable option in a real world situation. I believe it is substantially dissociative and is unlikely to draw any parallels in the mind of anyone who has had the deep misfortune to have been affected by the suicide of a family member or friend,” the spokesperson argued.

“The second scene which is primarily the logo of the game does not imply or portray suicide in any fashion. The silhouette of the zombie hanging from the tree is presented without any explanation or back-story, and no connection to the preceding scene is offered; certainly it could not be extrapolated that the implied suicide by explosion of the couple might lead to either of them being hung by the neck from a tree.”

The Advertising Standards Board did not agree, despite agreeing that most viewers would understand that the scenes come from a fantasy game, and were aired during a time slot targeted at adults.

“The Board noted the fantasy content and the stylised nature of the advertisement and considered that the issue of suicide is a depiction of violence which is not justifiable even in the context of an
advertisement for a computer game aimed at adults,” the determination offered.

“The Board noted that the issue of suicide is a very significant community concern and considered that the use of images which are strongly suggestive of suicide is not appropriate in the context of a television advertisement for a computer game. The Board considered that by presenting images which suggest suicide the advertisement does depict material which is contrary to Prevailing Community Standards on health and
safety.”

AIE pulled and replaced the ad, but issued a disappointed response.

“Whilst real life suicide is of course a matter of grave concern in our communities we feel this ought not to bar the subject from portrayal in a fantasy setting,” the company said.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/05/30/dead-island-riptide-ad-banned-in-australia/feed/4UK Charts see Metro: Last Light ascend to the top spothttp://www.vg247.com/2013/05/20/uk-charts-see-metro-last-light-ascend-to-the-top-spot/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/05/20/uk-charts-see-metro-last-light-ascend-to-the-top-spot/#commentsMon, 20 May 2013 07:59:58 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=368401Metro: Last Light has entered the UK charts at first place, marking another recent success story for publishers Koch Media and Deep Silver.

Koch’s other release Dead Island Riptide has fallen to second place as a result, and MCV reports that although Metro: Last light has debuted at first, its first-week sales still pale in comparison to Metro 2033′s when it launched in 2010 – despite debuting at 5th at the time.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/05/20/uk-charts-see-metro-last-light-ascend-to-the-top-spot/feed/16UK charts: Dead Island Riptide holds firm at number onehttp://www.vg247.com/2013/05/13/uk-charts-dead-island-riptide-holds-firm-at-number-one/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/05/13/uk-charts-dead-island-riptide-holds-firm-at-number-one/#commentsMon, 13 May 2013 08:09:23 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=365946Dead Island: Riptide has claimed the top pot of the UK charts for a third week running, although its sales figures have tumbled some 55% since it launched.

The game didn’t have much competition to be fair, with only the retail edition of TellTale’s The Walking Dead and Persona 4: Arena launching. They hit ninth and eleventh respectively.

Dead Island: Riptide (Koch Media)

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (Activision)

Tomb Raider (Square Enix)

Injustice: Gods Among Us (Warner)

FIFA 13 (EA)

BioShock Infinite (Take-Two)

Assassin’s Creed 3 (Ubisoft)

Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins (Nintendo)

The Walking Dead (Telltale)

Luigi’s Mansion 2 (Nintendo)

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/05/13/uk-charts-dead-island-riptide-holds-firm-at-number-one/feed/12UK charts: Dead Island Riptide stays afloat at number onehttp://www.vg247.com/2013/05/07/uk-charts-dead-island-riptide-stays-afloat-at-number-one/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/05/07/uk-charts-dead-island-riptide-stays-afloat-at-number-one/#commentsTue, 07 May 2013 08:41:48 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=364356Dead Island: Riptide has held firm at the top of the UK game top 40 for a second week running. Techland’s zombie-basher might feel like an expansion to the original, but that’s not stopping the nation from getting stuck in.

Although it’s at the top, Dead Island: Riptide saw a 32% sales slump this week, while this week’s second place Injustice: Gods Among Us fell by 40%. This week’s only new entry Soul Sacrifice entered at 26, marking another slow starter for Sony’s PS Vita.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/05/07/uk-charts-dead-island-riptide-stays-afloat-at-number-one/feed/10Dead Island: Riptide codes redeeming Dark Souls on Steam in UKhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/04/26/dead-island-riptide-codes-redeeming-dark-souls-on-steam-in-uk/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/04/26/dead-island-riptide-codes-redeeming-dark-souls-on-steam-in-uk/#commentsFri, 26 Apr 2013 13:54:31 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=362009Some folks in the UK have found that the Steam codes included in their retail copy of Dead Island: Riptide unlock Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition instead of the zombie slasher on the digital service.

In a post on the Steam forums, Deep Silver’s international community manager Maurice Tan noted that the issue affects retail copies in the United Kingdom and Nordic countries.

“Now, Dark Souls is an amazing game, but you probably bought Dead Island: Riptide to play Dead Island: Riptide,” he said. “For those of you who don’t know this, Dark Souls is also not a Deep Silver game.

“We are aware of this mixup by whoever printed these codes for a completely different game from a different publisher, and are working on a best possible solution to help affected players and retailers.

“We’ve worked with Steam to resolve this issue. If you are getting your retail copy of Dead Island: Riptide today, the code will work properly. If you had redeemed it and received Dark Souls instead, please contact Steam support. They are aware of the issue and will make sure the correct game will be attached to your account.”

If you are one of those affected, hit up the links for more information.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/04/26/dead-island-riptide-codes-redeeming-dark-souls-on-steam-in-uk/feed/4Dead Island: Riptide launch trailer hails US releasehttp://www.vg247.com/2013/04/23/dead-island-riptide-launch-trailer-hails-us-release/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/04/23/dead-island-riptide-launch-trailer-hails-us-release/#commentsTue, 23 Apr 2013 13:58:26 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=360785Dead Island: Riptide is out today in the US, and Deep Silver along with Techland have released the launch trailer. It’s out on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 and those in Europe can pick it up starting April 26. Review scores are through here.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/04/23/dead-island-riptide-launch-trailer-hails-us-release/feed/1Dead Island Riptide: is it really more of the same?http://www.vg247.com/2013/04/22/dead-island-riptide-is-it-really-more-of-the-same/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/04/22/dead-island-riptide-is-it-really-more-of-the-same/#commentsMon, 22 Apr 2013 11:57:51 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=358792Dead Island: Riptide may wear the same face as its predecessor, but Deep Silver’s creative producer Alex Topolanski assured VG247′s Dave Cook that this quite a different game. Judge for yourself here.

This isn’t because I’m not interesting in the game. I really enjoyed the original despite its faults, and I’m already convinced I’ll enjoy Riptide as well.

Cast your mind back to the infamous reveal trailer for the original Dead Island. The all-CGI clip of a family being attacked in reverse slow-mo, with the heart-shredding piano music laced over the top for added schmaltz got people talking about the game.

Gamers debated the validity of the clip for months, the press wrote outraged columns about it, while others didn’t see the harm. Either way you could be damn sure that every man, woman and their dog knew the name “Dead Island”. It was a massive success.

However, when the game came out it delivered none of the trailer’s sentiment, starred some hideously overblown stereotypes and crowbarred in several thinly-veiled attempts at pathos. It was a different beast altogether.

But it was fun in numbers, and gave rise to many bonkers, genuinely enjoyable co-op sessions, backed up by a crazy crafting mechanic. I had fun with it, even though it scarcely resembled the trailer, just like the zombie wedding stunt isn’t accurately portraying Dead Island: Riptide. That’s why I’m not covering it personally.

What you really want to know is if the game is any good or not, and that’s what I believe in as well. After a recent hands-on session with the game’s first hour, I had a chance to speak with Deep Silver creative producer Alex Topolanski to really get a feel for the game beneath the hype, and to see how far it’s come since Technland’s first outing.

“The game has really found its voice, found its centre,” Topolanski told me. “We saw the way people played it, and they really loved playing together, which is something we were really happy to see. The co-op experience was something we bet on with the game’s success, and it really paid off.

“I think what we learned is that sometimes there’s a lot to be said for the excitement of mowing down zombies together. I think that what we’ve tried to do is go more over the top, have a little bit more fun with the setting, and just deliver a more visceral, entertaining experience, without all the dramatic hand-holding. We just want to set you guys free in a world full of walking piñatas.”

As Jack Arnott wrote on these very pages, the game just wants you to have fun, and after playing through Riptide’s first hub-defence area, I get the feeling that co-op really is going to shine this time around.

I won’t pull any punches here though, there is still an inert, ropey nature to the game that I would probably miss if it wasn’t there. There’s no denying it looks much better than its predecessor, but this certainly isn’t cusp of the generation stuff. Compare it to BioShock Infinite’s carnival veneer and both games feel years apart.

Yet I think it’s easy to ignore all of the Xbox 360 version’s jaggies, blurred textures and wonky animation in favour of the fun, and there was plenty of it as our group set up mesh fences to block zombies, makeshift flame swords in hand, as we waiting to cave in the head of the nearest zombie foolish enough to shamble within striking range.

I shared with Topolanski my key concern that the game simply isn’t different enough. At the start the control method is identical, all of the first game’s four survivors start with the same skills, and the standard zombie-fighting gameplay has been carbon-copied. Not forgetting that this was – of course – the game’s opening hour, I asked him how much new content there is the further you get.

“I think this is a small sample of what’s to come later in the game”, Topolanski explained. “We’ve got hub defence situations with stationary guns, mines being planted everywhere and it’s really a centrepiece of the game for us.

“The interplay of how your friends act alongside you, the way zombies approach from all these different angles, and the need to constantly be replenishing things like fences and mines creates this situation with a lot of depth and a ton of re-playability. They should continue to offer a lot of variety.

“We’ve played my favourite hub defence area about a hundred times and we’re still finding out new things. Like I’ll see a whole wave of zombies just blow up at once and I’ll be like to my friend, ‘How did you do that?’ and they’ll say, ‘Well if you put the mines like this, and do that you can kill them all,’ so that’s what we want to do with the hub defences.”

Added to hub defence you have news zombie types the Drowner, which lurks beneath bodies of water, and the Grenadier, which pulls out its own explosive entrails and hurls them at you like a bomb, and the Wrestler, a hulking brute who can batter you with their flailing club arms.

There’s also expanded weapon crafting options, flooded areas that make traversal dangerous and new character John Morgan – seen in during the session wielding a pair of Wolverine-esque claws. It’s silly and aggressive right across the board, but while I’m happy with how Riptide’s ended up, I do wonder if others will be so forgiving seeing as the game is very similar to its predecessor.

I’m guessing many gamers out there will come down hard on Techland for playing it safe, but only a thorough play-test of final code will reveal just how varied it becomes. Perhaps the biggest ‘game-changer is the new city of Henderson, with its flooded lower levels posing a potential death-trap to unprepared survivors.

“I think the biggest challenge in building a city like that is dealing with the issue of guidance,” Topolanski continued. “It’s very easy for people to get totally confused and lost, especially when you’re dealing with things like ladders, because we need to be sure these objects are highlighting themselves. Otherwise you have a situation where no one has any idea what’s going on.

“That was a challenge, but we also wanted to push limits of how much we could draw on screen at one time, with all these big vista points and all of that, but I’m proud of how much we’ve been able to accomplish in such a short time with

We caught a hands-off glimpse of the city later on in the game, as a band of survivors battled their way slowly through flooded courtyards as Drowners leapt out of the still water unexpectedly and began hammering the party. With movement hampered I could see how these ‘wet’ moments could be pretty tense.

The group then fought zombies on the street with a wide range of mad, but familiar weapons and climbed up to the rooftops to clear the infected out of a cinema, which triggered a new hub defence area among the red-seated aisles of a theatre room. What followed was an explosive struggle against waves of zombies that ended in victory for the humans.

But again I didn’t feel like I had seen much in the way of new material. If you read this site regularly you’ll know I’m a rank optimist so I’m still not worried about the game being fun or ludicrous. I can see that clearly from playing just the first hour, but do you think your attention hold up for the duration? Let us know below.

Dead Island: Riptide is out on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 across North America from April 23 and across Europe April 26. These impressions are based on preview code only and not the final build.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/04/22/dead-island-riptide-is-it-really-more-of-the-same/feed/7Dead Island: Riptide review round-uphttp://www.vg247.com/2013/04/22/dead-island-riptide-review-round-up-fun-fest-or-b-movie/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/04/22/dead-island-riptide-review-round-up-fun-fest-or-b-movie/#commentsMon, 22 Apr 2013 07:03:57 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=360395The embargo has lifted on the reviews of Techland’s zombie-follow-up, Dead Island: Riptide. Is it silly-fun or just plain silly? Get the scores through the break.

Dead Island: Riptide is out this week on PC, PS3 and 360 and the review scores have started to go up all around the interwebs.

Dead Island: Riptide is the follow-up to Techland’s co-op zombie-masher, Dead Island, which achieved a respectable Metacritic score of low-70s on console and 80 on PC when it was released back in 2011.

Let us know in the comments below if you have any scores for Dead Island: Riptide and we’ll update the list throughout the day. All scores out of ten except where otherwise indicated.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/04/22/dead-island-riptide-review-round-up-fun-fest-or-b-movie/feed/29Dead Island: Riptide achievements are live, see them herehttp://www.vg247.com/2013/04/12/dead-island-riptide-achievements-are-live-see-them-here/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/04/12/dead-island-riptide-achievements-are-live-see-them-here/#commentsFri, 12 Apr 2013 09:11:44 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=357802Dead Island: Riptide’s Xbox 360 achievement list has appeared online, and does indeed contain spoilers, so be careful. It’s out on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 across North America from April 23, and across Europe from April 26.

Thanks to X360A for the list. Note that there are no Gamerscores attached to any of the achievements, which is a tad weird. We’ll update once the numbers appear.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/04/12/dead-island-riptide-achievements-are-live-see-them-here/feed/0Dead Island Riptide: new screens show crazy island anticshttp://www.vg247.com/2013/04/09/dead-island-riptide-new-screens-show-crazy-island-antics/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/04/09/dead-island-riptide-new-screens-show-crazy-island-antics/#commentsTue, 09 Apr 2013 11:31:46 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=356468Dead Island: Riptide publisher Deep Silver has released a new batch of screens from Techland’s soggy, island-based purée of zombie goodness. It’s out on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 across North America from April 23 and across Europe April 26.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/04/09/dead-island-riptide-new-screens-show-crazy-island-antics/feed/3I am going to play the shit out of Dead Island: Riptidehttp://www.vg247.com/2013/04/05/i-am-going-to-play-the-shit-out-of-dead-island-riptide/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/04/05/i-am-going-to-play-the-shit-out-of-dead-island-riptide/#commentsFri, 05 Apr 2013 11:20:07 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=355535Dead Island: Riptide is the most fun Brenna has had all year, which probably means she needs to get out more.

First person melee in 2013 is mashing the buttons, vaguely aiming, and hoping for the best. If there is more than one enemy on screen, you can’t see a thing. If there is an ally on screen, you can’t see a thing. If TechLand turned friendly fire on, everyone would die while you’re still waiting for one of your mates to plug his headset in. It’s laughably cumbersome.

When the local PR representative for Dead Island: Riptide asked me to come play games one afternoon instead of doing any actual work, I didn’t even bother to look at the calendar. Do you know what they have at preview events? They have couches. Do you know what I don’t own at the moment? A couch. I don’t give a rat’s left buttcheek what game is being shown; if I can leave the house, speak to humans, and sit on something comfortable while holding a control pad, I am all over it.

At the time, Dead Island: Riptide was not high on my priorities list. When I sauntered across to King’s Cross to take a look at it I was just starting to get really, really excited about some other releases, including a couple of indies so deeply wanky they’ve been blind since before birth. The thought of playing what is – let’s face it – one of the stupidest game ideas ever conceived of did not pull on my heartstrings very much. I was there for the couch.

Let’s just pause for a moment so I can quantify my likely uncontested claim that Dead Island’s formula is one of the most wretchedly dumb the industry has ever produced. First person melee just does not work. Maybe it will, one day, but that day is not today; first person melee in 2013 is mashing the buttons, vaguely aiming, and hoping for the best. If there is more than one enemy on screen, you can’t see a thing. If there is an ally on screen, you can’t see a thing. If TechLand turned friendly fire on, everyone would die while you’re still waiting for one of your mates to plug his headset in. It’s laughably cumbersome.

You can sort of see how it came about, fiddling around with a mod, taking the guns out of a shooter, playing the hilarious awful result with some friends – and suddenly wondering if anybody would pay money for the experience. It’s an appalling mess. But just like that wince-worthy college significant other you pretend never happened, it’s somehow such incredible fun that you forgive it all its faults. Really, the only difference is, Dead Island does not deny you custody of your children, shag your best friend, and run off with your credit cards after giving one of your aunts a heart attack, leaving you filled with regret and a painful itch when you pee.

I played the one with the knife. My friend played the one with the dodgy Australian accent. My other friend also played the one with the knife. We spent a lot of time talking about running in high heels on jetties and fly-kicking in short skirts that somehow always cover your panties.

In this gameplay video, a lot of fairly stupid
things happen, and everyone shouts
“hooray” and opens another beer.

Dead Island: Riptide does not get any less stupid no matter how long you play it. You can get kind of good at it, but only up to a point. After that, there just isn’t any more skill to attain. After about an hour, I’m pretty sure I became one of the best Dead Island players in the world. Every time I targeted a limb, that limb was hit. I used the flying-kick-head-stomp combo to such devastating effect that someone yelled “hack” even though we were all playing on PR-owned consoles connected via LAN. I power-gamed my way through the available story content so fast that my crew of three finished the demo with half an hour to spare while another team of four – guided by the PR reps, no less – were still wittering away at the first hub when they booted us out. Somehow, my mastery of the gameplay on offer did not lead to boredom.

Bigger and nastier enemies came, in increasing numbers. I mowed them down with my amazing shovel, the demo build’s ultimate bladed weapon, which I had upgraded with a venom effect and used incongruously with a backstab skill I’d stacked all my points in. One of my squad mates kept setting us all on fire, but we did not care; we just fly-kicked the flames out of existence. We drove a boat along a river filled with over-powered baddies, laughing hysterically every time one hit the hull with a “thunk” and was torn to shreds. We also laughed pretty hysterically when one of us was dragged from the boat and left to walk the whole way back, exposed to the afore-mentioned baddies. We laughed hysterically when we died, and we laughed hysterically when we won. I am not 100% sure PR was not pumping nitrous oxide into the room.

I’m going to buy Dead Island: Riptide, unless it turns up in the mail as so many things seem to do since I became famous enough to get a vague mention on a t-shirt. It’s ridiculously stupid. It’s pretty broken, too – the number of times we got caught on the geometry was astounding. The crafting is still a bit of a nightmare to understand and the skill trees still seem a bit unbalanced. The “plot” is still fetch quest after fetch quest after fetch quest after puzzled staring at the map to figure out which god damned objective you’re up to after fetch quest. The environments still look like someone’s just discovered the copy paste shortcut at age 45 and by god is going to make up for lost time.

But as long as I can fire it up on launch day and have online multiplayer actually work – something the original faffed up – I genuinely don’t care. It may be the multiplayer game I turn to most often this year. I am going to play the shit out of it.

Dead Island: Riptide is due on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in late April.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/04/05/i-am-going-to-play-the-shit-out-of-dead-island-riptide/feed/22Dead Island: Riptide just wants you to have funhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/04/03/dead-island-riptide-just-wants-you-to-have-fun/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/04/03/dead-island-riptide-just-wants-you-to-have-fun/#commentsWed, 03 Apr 2013 14:58:18 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=354837Dead Island: Riptide isn’t a full sequel argues Jack Arnott, but you know what, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Zombie-lovers can still look forward to a lot of fun.

What is it about zombies? They’re everywhere. And not in an apocalyptic sense. In the last five years we’ve had zombie films, zombie books, zombie comics and a zombie tv series.

Of course we’ve also had a resurgence of zombie games, a trend epitomised no better than in the surprising success of Dead Island, a title which received a lukewarm reception at best.

To onlookers it may have appeared to succeed largely due to its notorious, and in hindsight – pretty misleading – launch trailer.

That’s certainly how it might have looked, but of course, most of the naysayers who dismissed Dead Island probably never actually played it or didn’t give it much of a chance.

While much of the games media forgot about it, developers Techland went about cleaning up the bugs on Steam, which improved it over time.

Here it stands a couple of years later, a fully-fledged franchise with a devoted fanbase. With sales of over five million a sequel was inevitable.

Well, I say “sequel”…

I played through the first hour of Dead Island: Riptide’s story mode and the message from the attendant developers was clear: this is not Dead Island 2.

But I can see why they were on the defensive. The engine has barely been touched, which is made apparent when you flail your weapon and it fails to connect with an adjacent undead, or watch characters’ mouths move asynchronously with dialogue in one of the game’s many cut-scenes.

The latter is made worse by some dreadful voice acting, to the point where you can’t help but be reminded that most of its code probably dates back to 2007, when the first game was announced, if not before. As someone that had been playing Far Cry 3 and God of War: Ascension in the week leading up to the preview, the difference was pretty stark.

Nevertheless, those who are solely interested in looks wouldn’t have enjoyed Dead Island in the first place. What Riptide has, just like it’s predecessor, is personality, charm and an almost child-like willingness to embrace fun for fun’s sake. This isn’t a game that will have you cooing over it’s gorgeous scenery, brilliant storyline or writing, but it will have you giggling like a maniac.

The story picks up exactly where the original left off. You’re held captive aboard a military vessel and without wanting to give too much away, something goes wrong. OK so it’s no secret that a few crew members suddenly develop a taste for brains, and after a couple of riptides later, you wake up on the neighbouring island of Palanai.

It’s a swampier, sweatier experience than Banoi from the first game and yep, you guessed it, no sooner have you spat the sand out of your mouth than you find out that they quite like brains here too. It’s a local delicacy it seems.

Once on the island, the game opens up completely, and like the first, offers simple, open-world fun in a way few others can match. I spent one mission barricading a small camp and then repelling a wave of enemies, then decided on a whim to jump in a car and drive to the other side of the island. Just to see what was going on.

I ran a few zombies over. I blew some up on a bridge and watched them sail through the sky. I hacked at some with a knife. Shot another couple with my shotgun. Just as I found another mission I looked at my phone and realised an hour had passed and I’d barely scratched the surface.

What’s clear is that Techland know their audience. No attempt has been made to make the game more cerebral or sophisticated. Take the ‘barbecue blade’ for example – a DLC bonus weapon that’ll be available with certain pre-orders. It’s a machete with two blowtorches attached that makes carving up the walking dead more fun than you can possibly imagine. It’s ludicrous, dumb and immensely satisfying.

In fact, Techland’s care for their community extends as far as including some fan-originated content in the game. The playable character of John Morgan is based on one sketched out in “Fist of the Dead Star”, a mod created for the first game shortly after its release. Dead Island die-hards will find plenty more to please them.

There’s around 20 hours of single-player story content and a new tower-defence-like multiplayer mode, where you barricade an area to defend from the gathering horde. Drowners, a new kind of zombie, make an appearance, and just wait ‘until you get your hands on the nail gun.

Great attention has also been given to the game’s more structural components, like in-game menus and character progression. The new skill trees mean that characters are deeply customisable, and will develop in accordance with your style of play.

I felt compelled at the time of my preview mostly make notes about how cheesy and predictable the plot and dialogue were. I was even prepared to say how Riptide is somehow unimaginative, lazy, and crass. But since then I’ve realised Dead Island isn’t trying to compete with Bioshock or Skyrim.

It’s a b-movie made into a game, and you know what, a b-movie where you get to control the explosions and eviscerate staggering corpses in any manner you please is pretty damned enjoyable.

Above all Riptide just wants you to have fun, and you know what, I bet you will.

Dead Island: Riptide hits PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on April 23 across North America, and across Europe from April 26.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/04/03/dead-island-riptide-just-wants-you-to-have-fun/feed/10Dead Island: Riptide gameplay trailer shows choppy watershttp://www.vg247.com/2013/03/21/dead-island-riptide-gameplay-trailer-shows-choppy-waters/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/03/21/dead-island-riptide-gameplay-trailer-shows-choppy-waters/#commentsThu, 21 Mar 2013 14:00:04 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=351413Dead Island: Riptide developer Techland has released a new trailer for its undead skull-smashing romp. It sees the team of zombie-slayers seeking refuge on a military ship, only to then become washed up on the island of Palanai. Bad times.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/03/21/dead-island-riptide-gameplay-trailer-shows-choppy-waters/feed/1Dead Island: Riptide skipping Wii U due to current engine refinementshttp://www.vg247.com/2013/03/16/dead-island-riptide-skipping-wii-u-due-to-current-engine/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/03/16/dead-island-riptide-skipping-wii-u-due-to-current-engine/#commentsSat, 16 Mar 2013 19:21:16 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=349827Dead Island: Riptide will not be released on Wii U because according to creative producer Alexander Toplansky, Techland would have to rebuild or port the engine.

Speaking in an interview with Digital Spy (via Polygon), Toplansky said while Wii U development hasn’t been “categorically” ruled out in the future, the team wanted to instead refine the current engine for Riptide before tackling a new console.

“One of the opportunities we had for Riptide was to continue the development of the engine, and really improve it and make a lot of refinements,” he said. “The things that are required to bring something to a new platform, you need to either really get to be integrating it deep into the engine, or you’ve got to [do] a port.

“Neither one of those was a satisfactory outcome for us, so we decided to do what we got platform-wise and just make sure that we can deliver the best experience we can.”

Dead Island: Riptide releases April 23 in North American and on April 26 in Europe for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.

Saints Row 4 will make its worldwide debut with exclusive behind-closed-doors presentations, and any PAX East attendees that cosplay as a Saints Row character will be allowed to skip to the front of the line for the presentation..

Dead Island: Riptide will be playable, and those who stop by the booth can take part in a multiplayer session with one of the producers.

Metro: Last Light will also be playable to the public for the first time, and three-player multiplayer sessions for Sacred Citadel will be available as well.

PAX East 2013 starts on March 22 and you can take part in the Deep Silver festivities at booth #748.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/03/15/saints-row-4-dead-island-riptide-metro-last-light-sacred-citadel-will-be-at-pax-east/feed/0Dead Island: Riptide screens bring the tropic thunderhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/03/15/dead-island-riptide-screens-bring-the-tropic-thunder/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/03/15/dead-island-riptide-screens-bring-the-tropic-thunder/#commentsFri, 15 Mar 2013 11:29:56 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=349431Dead Island: Riptide has received a new batch of screens courtesy of Deep Silver and Techland. They show a tropical paradise teeming with undead bastards.

You can expect my Dead Island: Riptide multiplayer hands-on and interview article on VG247 soon. I played it earlier this week and at first I thought it was essentially a re-skin of the first game with a few new features. That was, until the subtle but important nuances started creeping in.

The hub defence bits are also fun. Plus, newcomer John Morgan is a melee expert who can craft a set of Wolverine claws, which is actually brilliant. The game felt like it hadn’t changed much at all in the opening areas.

However, I didn’t mind the over-familiarity as I really enjoyed the original – despite me often moaning on the site about how boring zombies have become. I also learned in my interview that there will be a lot of new content in there.

Stay tuned for my full interview and hands-on piece in coming weeks to find out more.

Everyone who pre-orders Dead Island: Riptide will receive ‘The Survivor Pack’ which includes the following:

A BBQ Blade: An exclusive weapon that combines a sharp blade with fuel tanks to make a flame-spewing sword.

An XP booster: This will essentially make your character level faster for a while.

A special shop: Players can access a discount shop that offers big savings on weapons and gear.

GAME UK stores have a second, exclusive pre-order DLC called ‘Fashion Victim’, which includes a set of new co-op skins for Logan, Purna, Sam B., Xian Mei, and new character John Morgan.

You can still pick up the DLC even if you don’t pre-order the game, but it’ll cost you.

The Survivor pack will be available for 400 Microsoft Points or £3.99 on PlayStation Network and Steam. The Fashion Victim pack will cost 160 Microsoft Points or £1.49 respectively.

Dead Island: Riptide got a nine-minute gameplay trailer last month, showing off plenty of combat, weapons and the game’s improved visuals. Check it out here.

What do you make of the above? Will you be pre-ordering Dead Island: Riptide? Let us know below.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/03/01/dead-island-riptide-pre-order-dlc-packs-revealed/feed/3Dead Island Riptide: 9-minute gameplay trailer surfaces, hub defence and combat shownhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/01/24/dead-island-riptide-9-minute-gameplay-trailer-surfaces/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/01/24/dead-island-riptide-9-minute-gameplay-trailer-surfaces/#commentsThu, 24 Jan 2013 13:15:09 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=332767Dead Island: Riptide has received a 9-minute gameplay trailer from publisher Deep Silver, showing off the game’s new hub defence stand-offs, and plenty of combat in action. We reported on the trailer yesterday, but now we have it right below the fold. Enjoy!

What do you think?

I had a chat with Deep Silver about Dead Island: Riptide’s new features last year – here’s the full interview – and we spoke about the water-logged hazards of new island of Palanai, the game’s save transfer feature, new character John Morgan and the city environment of Henderson.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/01/24/dead-island-riptide-9-minute-gameplay-trailer-surfaces/feed/7Dead Island: Riptide hub defence gameplay shown off in new footagehttp://www.vg247.com/2013/01/23/dead-island-riptide-hub-defence-gameplay-shown-off-in-new-footage/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/01/23/dead-island-riptide-hub-defence-gameplay-shown-off-in-new-footage/#commentsWed, 23 Jan 2013 21:41:27 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=332600Dead Island: Riptide has sparked a controversy but for all that it hasn’t been very visible. Today we finally get a proper look at it thanks to a video walkthrough by Deep Silver creative producer Alex Toplansky. Clocking in at nearly nine minutes, the footage shows off a hub defence mission – a new feature in Riptide – and is exclusive to IGN. Riptide is due for release on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in April.
]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/01/23/dead-island-riptide-hub-defence-gameplay-shown-off-in-new-footage/feed/0Dead Island Riptide – Dev apologizes over CE torsohttp://www.vg247.com/2013/01/15/dead-island-riptide-deep-silver-uk-apologizes-over-torso-included-with-zombie-bait-edition/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/01/15/dead-island-riptide-deep-silver-uk-apologizes-over-torso-included-with-zombie-bait-edition/#commentsTue, 15 Jan 2013 20:26:49 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=330210Deep Silver UK has taken to Twitter to apologize over the lady’s torso included in the Dead Island Riptide: Zombie Bait Edition announced this morning.

Similar to classic torso sculptures, but with a bloody zombie twist, the 12-inch resin statue included with the collector’s edition is a bikini-clad with bits of blood spatter. However, it was the statue’s, um, ample assets, which drew the ire of the Internet, with many calling it out as being over sexualized.

“We deeply apologize for any offense caused by the Dead Island Riptide Zombie Bait Edition, the collector’s edition announced for Europe and Australia,” reads the tweet. “Like many gaming companies, Deep Silver has many offices in different countries, which is why sometimes different versions of Collector’s Editions come into being for North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia.

“For the limited run of the Zombie Bait Edition for Europe and Australia, a decision was made to include a gruesome statue of a zombie torso, which was cut up like many of our fans had done to the undead enemies in the original Dead Island.

“We sincerely regret this choice.”

The firm went on to state that it is collecting feedback “continuously from the Dead Island community,” and the international gaming community for “ongoing internal meetings with Deep Silver’s entire international team today.”

It finished by saying it is “deeply sorry,” and it is “committed to making sure this will never happen again.”

Dead Island Riptide will be released on April 23 in North America and on April 26 in Europe and the UK for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.

Dead Island Riptide will be released on April 23 in North America and on April 26 in Europe and the UK for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/01/15/dead-island-riptide-zombie-bait-edition-announced-for-the-uk/feed/10Dead Island Riptide: Rigor Mortis Edition announced for North Americahttp://www.vg247.com/2013/01/10/dead-island-riptide-rigor-mortis-edition-announced-for-north-america/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/01/10/dead-island-riptide-rigor-mortis-edition-announced-for-north-america/#commentsThu, 10 Jan 2013 17:49:08 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=329084A collector’s edition for Dead Island Riptide has been announced. Called The Rigor Mortis Edition, the packages is exclusive to North and Latin America, and comes with all sorts of goodies.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/01/10/dead-island-riptide-rigor-mortis-edition-announced-for-north-america/feed/6Dead Island: Riptide – Deep Silver wants to make your wedding zombie-themedhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/01/10/dead-island-riptide-deep-silver-wants-to-make-your-wedding-zombie-themed/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/01/10/dead-island-riptide-deep-silver-wants-to-make-your-wedding-zombie-themed/#commentsThu, 10 Jan 2013 15:46:27 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=329024Those planning on tying the knot should consider doing it Dead Island style. Why? Because Deep Silver is looking for bride and groom who wish to hold a zombie-themed wedding. Said wedding will then become the “centerpiece of the UK launch celebrations for Dead Island: Riptide.”

Here’s details:

“The search for two engaged Dead Island superfans who will be zombified for a Dead Island twist on a traditional beach wedding ceremony takes in every cemetery, grave and crypt the length and breadth of the UK. In return for becoming the official Dead Island Riptide zombie bride and groom, Deep Silver will host a Dead Island Riptide-themed zombie wedding ceremony and send the winning undead couple on a luxury Caribbean honeymoon.”

In order to apply, create a short video explaining why you are “the ideal undead candidates for the ceremony,” post it to YouTube, and then share the link via the Dead Island Riptide Zombie Wedding page on Facebook.

Deep Silver will review the applications and contact a shortlist of candidates. The closing date for applications is on Valentine’s Day, and the winning couple will be announced at the beginning of March.

Dead Island Riptide is out in April on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/01/10/dead-island-riptide-deep-silver-wants-to-make-your-wedding-zombie-themed/feed/1Dead Island: Riptide – the importance of 4-playhttp://www.vg247.com/2012/12/11/dead-island-riptide-the-importance-of-4-play/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/12/11/dead-island-riptide-the-importance-of-4-play/#commentsTue, 11 Dec 2012 10:07:09 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=323397Stace Harman speaks to Deep Silver to discover what lessons have been learned from its commercially successful Dead Island and how they’re being applied to the next game in the series.

Dead Island: Riptide

The original Dead Island, in conjunction with its GOTY edition, has sold in excess of 4 million copies.

Thanks to an increased level cap and new skill trees, veteran players of Dead Island will be able to import their character from the original game into Dead Island: Riptide.

Deep Silver does is not calling Dead Island: Riptide a sequel, saying that it lacks the innovation to be described as such. However, it is a full-sized game with at least as much content as the original.

Dead Island: Riptide is developed by Techland, published by Deep Silver and launches in April 2013.

The solitary hanging figure depicted in Dead Island’s title art acutely highlights the game’s confused messaging. That evocative motif, along with the now infamous trailer, suggests a depth of despair that Techland’s flimsy narrative deliberately leaves unplumbed. Moreover, when taken alongside its box art and many of its promotional images, it’s easy to subconsciously infer that Dead Island is first and foremost intended as a lone player experience. As we now know, that’s wrong on every conceivable level.

Beneath the tangled mess of misshapen contradictions, every fibre of Dead Island’s rotting being reeks of a co-op experience. Perversely, this is most evident when the game is tackled in single-player, where script and narrative inconsistencies stand just behind uglier, more aggressive mechanical shortcomings. In contrast to this, the co-op experience goes a long way to hiding a multitude of sins. Most dramatically, it transforms the island resort of Banoi from a bug-infested, half-finished construction-site of a game world into a blood-soaked, vacation experience. Played with friends, Banoi bids you welcome and then encourages you to kick back, cut loose and mutilate feckless zombies with Bruce Campbell-style maniacal glee.

Dead Island: Riptide is set to be plucked from the same macabre holiday brochure but hopes to entice you back with its upgraded facilities. This is as much a warning to those hoping for a substantial evolution of the original’s bloody DNA as it is a ringing endorsement for fans of mindless mayhem. At least this time around we all know what to expect: an emphasis on bloody carnage by way of a brilliantly imaginative set of melee weapons.

Thankfully, despite the standout success of this year’s slow-burning DayZ, Techland is forging ahead with all of Riptide’s dials cranked firmly to 11.

“When we looked at the feedback we were getting from players of the first Dead Island it came back time and time again to the enjoyment of the heavy action and hectic moments,” reveals Deep Silver creative producer, Anthony Cardahi. “This is where we see our strengths and what we’ve focused on going into Riptide.

“We touch on survival elements, but not to the extent of a DayZ, which I think caters to a different expectation and we would probably be diluting our strengths if we were to emulate something like DayZ. Also, with the multiplication of zombie games, it’s good to have games that have their own focus, so then everyone can find something that suits their tastes.”

With a colleague in tow, Cardahi shows off a brief, 20-minute game play demo that highlights one of Riptide’s new additions. It’s one of several passages of play woven into Riptide’s campaign that mashes together Gears of War’s Horde mode and Left 4 Dead’s tense survival set-pieces. In a jungle clearing, Cardahi and co fortify the crumbling ruins of a church with rolls of fencing, makeshift mines and a mobile machinegun emplacement. Soon after, a water pump is activated that sets about noisily draining the flooded foundations of the church and thus heralds the arrival of the undead.

Wave after wave throws itself at the defences, which are repaired and replaced in between attacks. Nonetheless, they are finally breached when a couple of undead grenadiers show up to lob explosives that knock the survivors and friendly NPCs off their feet and blow apart the makeshift barricades. A tense struggle ensures and by miraculous coincidence the water pump finishes its job moments after the last of the undead are hacked in to fried, bloody chunks by way of battery-powered combat knife.

“These moments are intended to reinforce the co-op elements of the game,” explains Cardahi, who smiles at the manic events that have just unfolded on screen. “A bolstering of the physics system allows the up-close fights and blunt encounters with the zombies in Riptide to be so much more powerful.

“We think that these kinds of things are rewarding and are really what Dead Island is about and what it has always been about: the moment to moment experiences and how awesome it makes you feel.”

As with its predecessor, Dead Island Riptide’s potential for awesome looks to be the subject of basic mathematics. So long as the sum of players is greater than one, the odds of multiplying the perceived awesomeness are increased by an exponential degree. Once again, the more players there are the less likely you are to be troubled too much by awkward interactions with NPCs or occasional, unintentional tears in the game world that expose the whirring gears underneath.

I won’t go into the story details too deeply because, in all honesty, who cares? Suffice to say the original four survivors (who can be imported from a Dead Island save game with skill set intact), plus new boy John Morgan, have wound up on another island of the Banoi archipelago. This time it’s the less commercialised and waterlogged landmass of Palanai, whose blue skies are subject to a new dynamic weather system. The flooded environment ushers in another of Riptide’s new features as the survivors are forced to traverse much of the island in a small, motorised boat. The boat’s exposed, open form allows for new game play mechanics and Cardahi insists that Techland is working hard to ensure that both the boat and the water on which it floats feel like an integral part of the game’s identity.

Dead Island’s commercial success has spawned a follow-up that looks set to deliver more of the hot-headed action that made the original so popular. The pre-alpha build shows some minor aesthetic improvements over the original game, most notably in the new weather system, but it also shows much room for improvement. Currently, the clunky UI and slightly fudged collision detection remain a bugbear. There’s still much work to be done to buff the title to a higher sheen than the original, but at least this time around Techland should have the resources to do so. The developer has also gleaned valuable insight that should help it replicate the strengths of Dead Island and avoid the weaknesses of its Ryder White DLC.

It seems we may all have learned a little something since that Dead Island trailer dropped early last year: Techland’s lessons are design-based, Deep Silver’s concern the value of clear communication, while gamers and press alike have learned to temper their expectations. The overall message is clear: as with much in life, Dead Island Riptide will be more fun with friends.

Dead Island: Riptide launches on PC, PS3 and 360 on April 23 in the US and April 26 in Europe.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/12/11/dead-island-riptide-the-importance-of-4-play/feed/3Dead Island: Riptide dev details horde-mode areas, new featureshttp://www.vg247.com/2012/12/06/dead-island-riptide-dev-details-horde-mode-areas-new-features/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/12/06/dead-island-riptide-dev-details-horde-mode-areas-new-features/#commentsThu, 06 Dec 2012 13:26:15 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=321830Dead Island: Riptide’s creative producer Anthony Cardahi has discussed a handful of new features included in Techland’s latest zombie title. Horde-mode ‘defence hubs’, flesh hurling zombies and more have been outlined in a new interview. Get the details below.

Speaking with OPM, Cardahi said of the game’s ‘defence hubs’, in which survivors must hold an area for as long as possible using land mines, barricades and other tools to repel the undead.

“They introduce something that is a classic zombie trope that you see in a lot of movies,” he said, “where survivors fortify a location and try to hold on as long as they can. It’s something that makes complete sense in the world of Dead Island.”

It’s no secret that water and storms have a big role to play in navigating the island of Palanai, as survivors must use row-boats and other means to traverse bodies of water teeming with zombies.

Cardahi. added, “The monsoons that were mentioned in the first game have now come to the archipelago. So a lot of the areas are flooded. This then allowed us to bring in the boats, which open up a lot of new gameplay possibilities in regards to movement and exploration”.

On the inclusion of a new weather system, Cardahi continued, “That allows us to play around with the atmosphere of the game a lot more thanks to the different lighting systems, from sunny blue skies to dark, torrential rains storms that will obscure your visibility”.

You’ll need to move fast to avoid the game’s new zombie type, warns Cardahi, “The first one we’re talking about is called the Grenadier. He’s a lumbering monstrosity who has cancerous growths all over his body and he flings parts of his body at you. He’s a ranged attacker, which brings a freshness and variety into how the zombie combat takes place.”

Disgusting. But not quite as disgusting as how hard it was to pull off a critical head-shot in the original Dead Island. Cardahi is aware of the fact, and promises slicker gunplay in Riptide, “Because of the new shooting system, headshots are now really devastating. You can also improve and upgrade the guns to the same level as melee weapons. Guns now represent a completely viable combat choice that you can maintain throughout the game”.

If you want more Dead Island: Riptide goodness, check out our own interview here.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/12/06/dead-island-riptide-dev-details-horde-mode-areas-new-features/feed/1Dead Island: Riptide shots show a town overrun with zombieshttp://www.vg247.com/2012/11/29/dead-island-riptide-shots-show-a-town-overrun-with-zombies/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/11/29/dead-island-riptide-shots-show-a-town-overrun-with-zombies/#commentsThu, 29 Nov 2012 15:43:28 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=319801New screenshots for Dead Island: Riptide have landed in our laps. We have shared them with you below the break. Dead Island: Riptide is due for release on April 26, 2013.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/11/29/dead-island-riptide-shots-show-a-town-overrun-with-zombies/feed/0Dead Island: Riptide producer baffled over franchise’s ban in Germanyhttp://www.vg247.com/2012/11/29/dead-island-riptide-producer-baffled-over-franchises-ban-in-germany/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/11/29/dead-island-riptide-producer-baffled-over-franchises-ban-in-germany/#commentsThu, 29 Nov 2012 13:53:08 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=319766Dead Island: Riptide producer Sebastian Reichert has said he unsure why Techland’s franchise is banned in Germany when there are other violent games sitting on store shelves.

Speaking with PCGamesN, Reichert said German laws prohibit the sale of games which promote violence against humans or human-like characters; essentially, to the government, zombies are humans even if they are rotting, reanimated corpses.

“It doesn’t matter what [the enemies] are, as long as they’re human-like then you have a problem,” Reichert explained. “For Dead Island in particular it was a problem that you could attack the zombies when they are dead, because that’s mutilation of corpses.

“[But] we punish the player if he does it because if the player tries to stab and slash everything that lies around him, his weapon will break and he’s fucked. We’re not even rewarding him, we’re punishing him for that stuff.”

Reichert said he doesn’t understand why his game is banned for sale in Germany, when games just as violent are allowed. Using Gears of War 3 as an example, Reichert pointed out the similarities between human beings and the Locust Horde in the game – which despite their reptilian appearance, are humanoid enemies.

“At the moment I’m really confused that you can buy Gears of War 3 in stores in Germany, but not Dead Island,” he said. “Because where’s the difference? I mean, [the enemies] are human-like, and [you can] do things to them… they really have nice finishers. That flamethrower finisher, he rams the flamethrower into the body, pulls the trigger and the flames come out of every body part. That’s in stores.”

“It feels fucking awkward to have one of the most successful games in years and nobody in your country knows it.”